General Description of the Research Core Facility. The RI-INBRE core facility was inaugurated in July 2003. The facility will be completing its tenth year of operation this year. Financial support is provided by the RI-INBRE grant and by all seven institutions that are participating in the network. In August 2012, the facility was relocated from the College of Pharmacy's old building, Fogarty Hall, to its new building at the URI's Kingston campus. The core facility is located on the fourth floor, and occupies 3,220 sq. ft., which represents a 70% expansion over the previous space (Figure 3.2 in Section 3.5). Included in the space are separate rooms for cell culture, microscopes, radioactive counters, as well as space for the staff. There are two chemical fume hoods, which are certified for the use of toxic chemicals. In addition, there is provision for both short-term and longer-term back-up power for critical equipment. The facility staff provide research and training support to RI-INBRE participants as well as other scientists affiliated with the network institutions throughout the state. The facility services are also extended to Rl's nonprofit research organizations and private companies on a fee-for-service basis. Both basic and advanced analytical instrumentation required for biomedical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnological research are available for shared usage. Rl's geographic compactness facilitates user access. All network institutions are within 35 miles of the site. The access is further enhanced through the core facility website (www.uri.edu/inbre/corelab), which allows participants to reserve major equipment online on a first-come, first-served basis. A user-fee structure has been placed in effect starting June 2013 to ensure future sustainability of the facility. The core facility has proven to be a major factor in enhancing existing research and forging new collaborative initiatives within Rl's research community. At the state level, the facility is listed on a searchable website of the Rl STAC maintained by the Rl Research Alliance (http://stac.ri.gov/alliance/), a statewide platform for promoting collaboration across COBRE, INBRE, EPSCoR, and other research networks. It is also listed on Brown's shared resource facilities website (://biomed.brown.edu/research/facilities) and searchable website (www.CoresRI.org ). At the national level, the facility is listed on the Vermont Genetics Network (Vermont INBRE) website (www.vgn.uvm.edu/corefacilities/).